Martyr! is a hard book to describe. Its tone is that of an earnest novel of ideas, despite the exclamation point in the title implying comedy. Its main character is Cyrus Shams, a young Iranian American struggling to overcome addiction and make his life and/or his death matter. However, many chapters are written from other characters' points of view, especially those of his parents who both died apparently meaningless deaths. The plot is minimal, relies on a few coincidences, and seems almost beside the point. Fascinating thoughts appear at regular intervals, but they fail to add up to a clear conclusion.
When people think about traveling to the past, they do it with this wild sense of self-importance. Like, 'gosh, I better not step on that flower or my grandfather will never be born.' But in the present we mow our lawns and poison ants and skip parties and miss birthdays all the time. We never think about the effects of that stuff. Nobody thinks of now as the future past.
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